In case you hadn’t noticed, Christmas is coming soon and that means that this year’s Christmas specials have arrived! Christmas specials are heralds of the approaching holiday, announcing it’s impending arrival with song and dance. Elves and Grinches blaze a trail into our hearts and minds which Christmas day fallows. In short, Christmas specials are special.

With that in mind, and since this is the Tuesday Tease, here is a light smattering of burlesque Christmas specials that are happening this year!

New York, New York

TONIGHT! Tuesday, December 17 |Hotsy Totsy Burlesque’s tribute to the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special One of, if not THE, most infamous holiday specials ever created. The program told the story of Han Solo and Chewbacca racing against time to get to the Wookie home planet, Kashyyyk, in time for Chewy to spend Life Day with his family. The Star Wars Holiday Special was broadcast in its entirety only once, in the United States and Canada, on November 17, 1978, pre-empting Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk. It has never been rebroadcast or officially released on home video. David Hofstede called it ‘the worst two hours of television ever.’ George Lucas has reportedly said: ‘If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it.'”

The folks at Hotsy Totsy Burlesque have made some improvements. Rather than featuring left over cast, props and footage from the original Star Wars, Hotsy Totsy Burlesque’s tribute to the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special will showcase performances by Brief Sweat, Clara Coquette, Hard Corey, Ivory Fox, Jenny C’est Quoi, Rosey La Rouge, gogo by Erika Rodgers and will be hosted by Herry Pitz and Handsome Brad.

New Orleans, Louisiana

TOMORROW! Wednesday, December 18 |Naked Girls Reading Christmas Carol What would Christmas be without Charles Dickens’ 1843 classic A Christmas Carol? The number of adaptions of the story are too numerous to count. Everyone from Patrick Stewart to Mr. Magoo have portrayed the books tight-fisted protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge. However, one aspect of the story is almost always missing from the storytelling. The live reading of the story. Charles Dickens himself had a long tradition of public readings of A Christmas Carol, a tradition that has been almost lost to time and technology. But fortunately Naked Girls Reading has brought this tradition back, with improvements that would have been unheard of in Victorian England. Read More…